Realignment - balancing work, school, and family during COVID-19
The kids all love “helping” dig in the dirt. We transplanted seedling flowers in larger pots for later this spring.
We are in an unprecedented time and are faced with balancing our lives in a completely new way. Like every household across the nation, we are adjusting to a new normal in our household. And this doesn’t come without challenges. However, I see this as an opportunity to get involved more with my child’s education, spend more time with my family, and reassess the priorities in my life.
Here’s a sampling of our week.
My kids find interesting ways to copy me…here my oldest needs a little help balancing while I stretch.
Balancing act
Raising three young children, facilitating virtual learning, continuing my husband’s and my jobs from home, and training for competitions requires flexibility. We are finding creative ways to engage all the children in our activities.
Delegation
Rather than taking on tasks myself, I can empower my children to learn valuable life skills. My oldest got promoted to being able to take out the compost now that she has conquered the garbage! Both my girls put their laundry away, and if they help me with hanging it up to dry, I tell them we now have more time to play games that day. They already love helping me cook, and my three-year-old is getting really good at peeling hard boiled eggs. And I never need to ask for help making homemade pizzas.
Warm ups consist of running the “racetrack” in the driveway.
I won’t lie, there are many times I have to tell them more than once to empty the dishwasher. But rather than expending energy nagging them to do it or doing it myself, we have found ways to incentivize them. Recently, I have found that my oldest loves some of her homework assignments on her i-Pad, so if she’s a good listener, she’s allowed to do those earlier in the day!
More time outside with the kids
Rollerski repeats are now past my driveway to keep an eye on the kids while they play outside.
My kids love outside, so this is an opportune time to be homebound. We just hit our first 60F day and my kids now have been in their swimsuits not once, but twice! Yes, first the sprinkler, and then the kiddie pool. They love all the things to do outside…riding bikes, planting flowers, chalk, swinging, and especially playing in the mud.
Creative multi-tasking
Rests between plyometric sets involves a few pushes on the swings.
Sometimes my youngest (almost 2) wants to be held - so this is an opportunity for weight training, such as weighted lunges.
My husband already told me I was the queen of multi-tasking, but I feel I’ve recently taken multi-tasking to another level.
We’re doubling up on virtual learning - our 5 year old gets to teach what she’s learning to our 3 year old.
My weekly plyometrics exercises were often done while waiting at the bus stop, now it’s between pushing the swings. Sometimes I have my kids help me count out my jumps.
My weekly rollerski hill repeats are now up our dead-end road while the kids play in the driveway. The bonus is now I get a cheering section!
Lunges are often weighted - that is because my two year old likes to be held. When I have my hands free, I’ve found I can pick up the sticks in the yard while doing lunges.
I had beautiful music while my children sang together and banged on five gallon buckets with sticks while I did step-ups on our retaining wall. Beats the gym music any day!
We get some time out on the trails together - I found an equalizer for me and my oldest. When she skis I pull both of the younger kids in a sled when I ski. Now that the snow melted, she’ll be biking while I push the jogger on the trails.
We found with all this time at home, it’s a good time to potty-train our almost 2 year-old.
What’s next
In the coming weeks I’ll share a family bike ride on our local bike paths in the mama train. I’ll also share one of our family’s favorite recipes to both make and eat together.
Don’t forget to get out and active too - participate in our #IRONBULLchallenge!
Tackling Safer at Home
What are the challenges you have faced with realigning your life and how have you tackled it? Please share below.